Collective action works. Thanks to your support, Andrew has been granted paid leave for one quarter, consistent with his doctor's recommendation and with our union contract. UCI has dropped its demand that he pay back salary and insurance premiums. Andrew is on track for recovery and hopes to return to teaching in January.

This victory belongs to every single one of you (7,600 people!) who called on UC administrators to treat teaching faculty with the same respect they pay to research faculty. We're fueled by the conviction that #FacultyEquity leads to #StudentSuccess. Our students need us, and we need humane, dignified working conditions.

In a July collective bargaining session, we had already proposed that all UC-AFT faculty would be eligible for paid medical leave in the case of catastrophic illness or injury, just like tenure-track faculty. We're also demanding strong rehiring rights for excellent teachers, a path to full-time teaching for all who want it, recognition of the unpaid service and professional development work we regularly take on, and salaries that reflect our vital contributions to the UC. Stable academic careers should be the norm for highly qualified scholar-teachers who give their all for their students.

Our contract campaign is about making sure that UC teaching faculty have the resources they need to provide UC students with the education they deserve. You can follow the negotiations through our bargaining blog and on Facebook, Twitter (@ucaft), and Instagram (@uc_aft). To keep the momentum going right now, please sign and share our petition protesting the UC's ongoing wage theft.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you again for standing up for Andrew. Together we can achieve many more victories for our students and each other. #Solidarity #WeTeachUC #WhoseUniversity #OurUniversity